THOMAS: New Bedford Bay Sox lose a friend in Eric Larrivee

When the New Bedford Bay Sox open their New England Collegiate Baseball League season next summer, there's sure to be a void in the cheering section at Paul Walsh Field. Eric Larrivee, a two-time host parent who was a permanent fixture in the Bay Sox crowd, died unexpectedly Tuesday at age 50.

When the New Bedford Bay Sox open their New England Collegiate Baseball League season next summer, there's sure to be a void in the cheering section at Paul Walsh Field.

Eric Larrivee, a two-time host parent who was a permanent fixture in the Bay Sox crowd, died unexpectedly Tuesday at age 50.

Larrivee was the husband of Rose (Correia) Larrivee and he leaves behind four young children, Kate, Drew, Michael and Lily.

Larrivee, a former Fall River Police Detective and Westport School Committee member, could always be found perched with his family behind the backstop, cheering for the Sox.

"He was at every game," said Mike Friar, the GM of the Bay Sox. "Eric and his family are great people. Host families are the backbone of the Bay Sox. It takes a lot of effort to run an organization like this and it wouldn't even be possible without these host families."

Johnny Lieske, a pitcher who attends the University of Alabama Birmingham, stayed with the Larrivee family during his two-year stint with the Bay Sox. He put in a request to stay with the Larrivees his second time around.

"When I knew I was coming back the second year, I told them that if they were willing to host me again, I'd love to stay with them," Lieske said. "What a great family. Eric was genuine – had a huge heart and loved helping people.

"We had a lot of heart-to-heart conversations. He had so many good qualities. He loved his family more than anything. He was so proud of his kids. His son Drew is a freshman at Diman and was called up to the varsity for a football game and Eric was so pumped up about that.

"It is interesting how God brought me into Eric's life because originally in the summer of 2012 he had a different ball player scheduled to live with him but that fell through at the last minute so I was the replacement. If that never happened, I wouldn't have had the honor to meet him and his family on that level and become their summer 'son' and 'brother.'"

Lieske found out about Larrivee's death Tuesday night when his phone started working overtime.

"Drew called me a few times," Lieske said. "I was writing a paper for school and I saw he and a few others were calling me and I hadn't heard from them in a while. I was wondering why my phone was blowing up. I went to my voice mail and found out."

An avid sports fan, Larrivee was also a coach with Westport Youth Soccer and held memberships with both the Knights of Columbus, Tiverton Council and the Lions Club in Fall River.

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"The last text I got from Eric sums up everything about him," Lieske said. "It said, 'No problem. Pleasure to help out.' It really was a pleasure for him. He didn't have to do some of the things he did, but he loved helping people."

Mike Thomas is the sports editor of The Herald News. Email him at mthomas@heraldnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @NostraThomasHN.